Thursday, July 19, 2012

Sorry I'm being pokey. Final exams and what not. Actually I'm supposed to be writing a paper right now.

Here's my translation of "Candy Candy." It's fairly liberal for me. I'm working on improving the feel of my English because really there should be no difference between English that is written as a translation and English that is just...written.

Candy Candy - Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

In my desk, in my pocket, and in my bag, tooI always have it, I never forget Should we pick something out?A little tiny smidge of happiness is bornFloof, a sweetened atmosphere I bet we can make it through this without getting all worked up

This and that and that over there, everybody's so wonderful, I want to fall under your spellI don't have any time to be listening to your requests!Cuz no, I'm a girl and right now is an important timeFloof, a sweetened atmosphere I bet we can make it through this without getting all worked up

The only note I really feel like leaving here is that before paying attention to the video/reading the lyrics I thought "Girls Love" sounded a lot like "Gum Drop." I guess in Japanese the difference between ラブ and ドロップ is a significant amount of syllables, but I thought she was just using natural English pronunciation. The words certainly would have fit the song...

If somebody has any questions or criticism, the comment section is open :P

Monday, July 2, 2012

Ya, I kinda like this song. And no, I don't think it has anything to do with bean paste (餡).

Kyary ANAN - Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

An an a-an an
Pamyu pamyu
An an a-an an
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

We work! Dreaming
Today and tomorrow we got our part-time jobs Let's do our best, ok? [1]
I want this and that Let's get to work [2]
This week and next week Let's do our best, ok?

Notes:

[1] "We got our part-time jobs" is kinda of clunky, but the feel of バイト vs regular 仕事 or whatever is really different and seems important to the spirit of the song. You can imagine her/them working at a fast food joint or a record shop or a bar maybe, but not like...an office?

[2] 働こ is a shortened form of 働こう which just means, "Let's work" but that is clunky in a whole different way, so I embellished.

Just by clapping your hands, your mood will brighten
Let's match the rhythm Everyone let's make a circle and clap

Look, it's simple. You don't have to think about anything.
It would be great if we all started smiling via the power of music
Just by clapping your hands, your mood will brighten
Let's match the rhythm Everyone let's make a circle and clap

Finally, finally, I get it!
I want to forget all the things I hate
Surely, surely, I'll start smiling [2]
Always, Always, I want to do as I please [3]

Notes:

[1] You could also opt to not translate this and just say Minna no Uta.
[2] If I wanted to break the structure: "I know I'll start smiling"
[3] Was tempted to go with "I just wanna do my thing forever" but I'm not sure if わがままcan extend to cover that somewhat positive meaning, haha.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

This is a (keyword "a") corrected translation of "Tsukematsukeru" using the lyrics from the liner notes in Pamyu Pamyu Revolution. You can see all the ways I messed up by opening this in another browser and comparing. Not that I'm claiming it's perfect now...just more, uh, perfectly wonky.

Wearing Fake Eyelashes - Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

tsukematsukema tsukematsukeru
pachi pachi tsukematsukete
to came up to came up [1a]
tsukematsukeru
kawaii no tsukematsukeru

Fake eyelashes blink blink put them onComing up Coming up so cute I'll put them on [1b]

[2] Changed this slightly from old version even though my listening comprehension was not off.

[3] I misheard this line when I originally translated this song. "angle of your heart" is not English, but I kind of like the way it sounds in a creative sense... Said "same old" because "same" alone did not seem to carry the correct connotation...

[4] Also edited this line slightly just to make it sound more natural.

[5] This was that word I could not figure out. おめめ is baby talk for 目. As far as I know, there is no baby talk for "eyes" in English...

If you haven't yet, I recommend checking out the original notes. I'm gonna try to work through the rest of the album consistently this week.